On The Horizon
by Amy227
Summary: "It's a shame you can't go by your own advice, Remus." "I know. It seems that I'm the only person that doesn't take my advice. Pity, really, as it seems to work so well on everybody else." Remus and Lily talk about the future, and where they might be. Mentions of James/Lily.


**Disclaimer: Not mineeeeeeeeeee :(**

**I actually really enjoyed writing this one! Hope you enjoy :)**

Whichever way Remus turned, he couldn't get himself comfortable. He supposed this depended largely on the fact that he was very anxious, and couldn't help but worry about what he'd do after he'd left Hogwarts. The following 7 days would be his last as a student, and, despite being told he was being stupid by his best friends, he couldn't help but feel he'd be saying goodbye to the last 7 years, the greatest years of his life, because everything would undoubtedly change. None of his friends appeared to worry about it – if anything, they only seemed excited to enter the next stage of their lives.

He gave a sigh of exasperation, and threw off his covers before making his way downstairs, to the common room, maybe he'd just sit in front of the fire for a while, to clear his mind a little. What he didn't expect, was to see that Lily Evans had beaten him to it.

He cleared his throat to let her know that he was there, which made her jump and look around quickly, catching his gaze then giving a sad smile. Remus returned it, and pulled up an armchair next to hers. They sat and watched the fire for what seemed like an eternity, in complete silence. Remus thought he would be pretty content just to sit there forever, with Lily, in silence. Even though they hadn't spoken a word to each other, Remus felt as if she understood, as though he wasn't completely alone. He dragged his gaze from the fire, and rested it on her, watching her emerald eyes reflect the flames for a few moments, before she slowly turned to him, taking a deep breath.

"Hello," she said. Her voice sounded a lot more enthusiastic than her expression let on, and her voice brought him back to reality, taking in her fake smile, but looking past that and realising how miserable her eyes looked.

"Hi," Remus replied. There was another silence. "What are you doing down here? I thought everybody else would be asleep."

Lily shrugged, avoiding his eye.

"I don't really know. I just...couldn't sleep. You?"

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep either. Just thinking about stuff, came down here to think it all out... away from Sirius' dreadful snoring."

Normally the silences between responses would've left the situation awkward, but in this case, Remus thought it intensified the conversation.

"I'm scared," she whispered. The words were so quiet that Remus wasn't sure if she meant him to hear; he barely caught them, and yet they echoed over and over in his head. He swallowed.

He moved his chair closer to hers, and took her hand in his. "I know." he whispered back. They stayed like that for another few minutes, before she broke the silence again.

"It's just..." she began, but couldn't seem to find the correct words to complete her sentence. Remus looked up at her, noticing that her eyes were filled with tears.

"I know." he repeated. "I know how you feel. Just remember, whatever changes, I'm here. I always will be. That's something that is never going to change."

"It's just, Hogwarts is... amazing, I don't want to leave all this behind. Just the thought that I won't be sat here again, or have dinner in the Great Hall, or the amount of people I'll never see again...I don't like it, Remus. I want to stay here."

"Well, think of it this way," Remus began, improvising. "Hogwarts is truly amazing, I agree, but things could be so much better out there. I mean, there'll be an endless amount of opportunities for you out there, you can do whatever you want. No rules... well, except for the law, I wouldn't go around killing anybody if I can help it. Azkaban doesn't seem like the kind of place I want to see myself living in in 10 years time..."

Lily gave a sort of smile, then it seemed as though something new had popped into her head.

"Where _can _you see yourself being in 10 years?" she asked, curiously.

Remus thought for a moment. Realistically, given the current anti-werewolf regime growing, Remus didn't really want to think about it, but he didn't want to upset Lily further.

"Hmm...possibly...living in a flat somewhere with Sirius or Peter...or both...although, that doesn't seem like much of a change from now, and they aren't exactly the cleanest roommates, so I'm not looking too forward for that to happen."

"Why not James?"

"Well, he'll be living with you, won't he," Remus said, as though it was obvious. Lily giggled at the thought.

"What about work? Wife? Children?"

"Oh, Merlin, if I'm living in a flat with Sirius and Peter I hope, with everything I have, I don't have a wife and child...can you think of how my child would grow up? Drinking half a bottle of firewhiskey before bedtime, having a string of girlfriends before he reaches ten...and my wife, I don't think Sirius can handle being under the same roof as another woman without trying something on with her..."

Lily giggled again. "You know what I mean. Can you see yourself having a family or anything?"

Remus thought again. He'd love a family. Somebody to come home to every night, who'd support him, cheer him up when he would be feeling down, give him a comforting hug, and be there the morning after he'd returned to his human state, and children, so he could pass down everything he'd learnt – the secret tunnels leading to Hogsmeade, somebody who'd actually look up to him, as oppposed to looking down at him for what he actually was...which is where the fantasy ended – nobody in their right mind would want to spend their life with a werewolf.

"I think not. If I truly loved somebody, I wouldn't want them to waste their time on me."

"What do you mean? You aren't talking about the whole werewolf thing, are you? Because if you are, you're talking rubbish."

"I'm not!" Remus protested. "I wouldn't even be able to buy them gifts, treat them, even support them, and they'd have the whole of the wizarding world looking down their noses at her for even being associated with me."

"Who'd be your perfect girl?" Lily asked, ignoring his rant.

"I'd like somebody...different. You know, somebody who isn't afraid to be themselves. Somebody strong, who wouldn't put up with me moping around all day and bringing them down, somebody happy... you get my drift."

"Somebody the opposite of you then?" Lily teased. "A girl like that would be great for you, might actually knock some sense into you that _you're not a bad person _once and for all."

"What about you, in 10 years?"

"Married, definitely, with two children, a boy and a girl, quite a big house, cosy and warm, with enough room for my friends to come over once or twice a week to sit around and have a cup of coffee, with a dog and two cats."

"You've thought about this before?" Remus smirked.

"Right down to the number of the house." Lily smirked back. "Married to James, of course, and he always goes on about how he wants to be an auror – that's pretty good paying, so it'll go all on the kids and house."

"I see. So, there's you, with your James and your children, in big house and large amount of money, and there's me, sitting on the sofa of my tiny little flat with Pads and Wormtail, probably moping about, with not a penny to my name. Sounds...pretty realistic, given my luck," he laughed.

"Well, if you are forced to live in a flat with Sirius and Peter, I'll persuade James into giving you the spare bedroom of our house, okay?"

"Oh great, so my options are, a) live with Padfoot and Wormtail, the biggest slobs of the century, having a hangover every morning from drinking myself to oblivion caused by the pessimism buried deep inside me, or b) sleep in the same house as James and the mini terrors who'll undoubtedly look, and act, exactly like him..."

"You know, ask your ideal girl to hurry up and find you, because somebody needs to knock all this right out of you, and I sure won't because I'm half asleep and too lovely."

_At least I've taken her mind off things_, he thought. After all, living in a house with Lily and James didn't seem like such a terrible idea after all.

"You and James are pretty serious, then?"

Lily simply nodded.

"Well then," Remus swallowed. "What have you got to worry about? You have only good things to look forward to. You got Outstanding and Exceeds Expectations in all of your OWLs. You're in a steady relationship, as far as I can tell, things can only get better for you." There was a hint of bitterness in his voice. "You just have to look for the silver lining, it's always there."

"It's a shame you can't go by your own advice, Remus."

"I know," he smiled, sadly. "It seems that I'm the only person that doesn't take my advice. Pity, really, as it seems to work so well on everybody else."

"Well," Lily said, standing up after a long silence. "It's definitely worked on me. I'm knackered, and you've definitely helped clear my head. Thanks, Remus, I really do appreciate it. Just...look for the silver lining, okay? It's always there."

Another short pause, in which Remus sniggered slightly.

"What?" Lily frowned.

"Nothing," Remus said, innocently, composing himself. "It's just, when I said I don't take my own advice, it doesn't make a difference when it comes out of your mouth. I still can't take it, despite how tempting it sounds."

Lily stuck her tongue out at him.

"Goodnight, Remus."

Remus stayed behind for a while after she left, looking at the ceiling thoughtfully. Thought they hadn't actually talked much about his insecurities of the future, he felt a lot better. How bad could it possibly be, when he had friends like Lily, Sirius, James and Peter? Maybe he would take his own advice after all, as there was always a silver lining where they were involved.


End file.
